This Christmas

This Christmas is different from others in my life.
The music thus far has been the same as Christmases past; so has the food.
The atmosphere is still festive, full of joy and cheer over the birth of our Savior, and the gathering of family and close friends in celebration.
But I am regarding at it all very differently this year, because this Christmas is my first as a father.
Granted, I’m just a foster dad, but a dad nonetheless to children who need one in their lives right now. And, while every moment of every day is special in the life of a child, there is something extra special about this time of year. There is a special something that happens in a child at Christmas time.
Yes, they do try extra hard to be extra good, don’t they? Nonetheless, their eyes fill with the wonder of the holiday season. The sights and the sounds tickle their senses. They become all giddy inside the way Ebenezer Scrooge felt upon his Christmas awakening.
Their excitement builds over the wait for Christmas morning when they know Santa Claus has left them something special for them under the Christmas tree.
Even my two foster sons, each only 11 months old, seem to have become giddier over the past month. Their baby senses must tell them that something good is going to happen. I look forward to the day that these boys will understand that something good happened a long, long time ago halfway around the world. The feeling of joy and excitement they get each Christmas season is the same that the shepherds and the wise men felt inside when they heard the news of the birth of baby Jesus and went to worship him at the manger.
I’ve known since I was a little boy myself the true meaning of Christmas, and what it means for my life. But this is the first Christmas in which I shall actually experience the true meaning of Christmas as it happens before my very eyes.
As I watch the two little boys in my care open their presents from Santa Claus, I just know that I will get a warm feeling inside; the realization that I have now just witnessed the true meaning of Christmas in action.
This Christmas I am gaining a completely new appreciation for the spirit of giving. Not that I haven’t given in Christmases past; but this year, I’m giving something else besides a present or a gift. I’m giving my heart and my love the way our heavenly Father gave to us when He sent His Son to earth as man-flesh in the form of a newborn babe.
For the first time in my life, I understand where God is coming from. I can now truly appreciate firsthand the joy He must have felt when He gave His multitude of children something very special; something from and of Himself.
This Christmas I am experiencing the kind unconditional love that only a parent can give to his or her child(ren). I cannot wait to see the joy, the smiles and the happiness on the faces of my two foster boys as they receive and open the gifts given to them out of unconditional love. That will be the most precious and important gift I shall receive this Christmas, and hopefully many more Christmases to come.
My eyes have been mercifully opened by the grace and blessings of the Lord. I once was blind, but now I see the truth of what I’ve been missing all these years.
Christmas isn’t just a holiday or a month-long season that comes once a year. Rather, it is a living example—a reminder, really—of how we should be treating one another and living all year long.
I’ve been blessed to have given so much of myself unconditionally to these boys over the past several months, because I’ve been practicing Christmas in my heart toward them each and every day; oftentimes without even noticing that I am. I just give to my foster sons because I want to, and because I love them. Until now, I haven’t really stopped to think that Christmas this year has lasted almost the whole year.
This Christmas the holy day of Christ’s birth is a culmination of all that giving to my foster babies; a manifestation of the way I’ve been living my life these past several months.
This Christmas is a reminder to me that the spirit of giving shouldn’t be limited to a single holiday or a brief season. God gave his Son, the Christ child and Savior, to all mankind, all people everywhere and for all time. His gift wasn’t just for the shepherds, the wise men or the Israelites living two thousand years ago. It was for all of us, too.
Thus, the lesson that Christmas isn’t just a holiday, or a holiday season. Rather, it’s an example for how each of us ought to live our lives and treat others each and every day: Like it is a gift…because it is.
My sincerest prayer for those still searching for and hoping to find the true meaning of Christmas is that you will come to actually experience it as I have. To know the true meaning of Christmas is one thing; but quite another to actually experience it for yourself.
For those who have already experienced Christmas truth, then my hope is that each holiday hereafter is a reminder of what you have been blessed to witness: The manifestation of God’s love for us.
May each Christmas also remind us that the holiday and its season don’t have to end or be limited to only this time of year. If we choose to let it, then Christmas can exist and be manifest in our hearts every day throughout the year.
Here’s wishing you and yours daily joy and Christmas cheer.